The present invention relates to building trusses, and in particular to an arcuately shaped truss assembly for supporting the roof of a building and the like.
Open web structural supports in general, and in particular, structural trusses are used for the fabrication of buildings in the construction industry. While open web supports are used to form a variety of building structural segments, the primary application of the structural trusses is to define a desired roofline and to support the roof by the building walls and interior structure. Trusses are typically fashioned from a series of joined vertical, horizontal, and angled members. Historically, trusses have been fabricated from wooden members joined by flat metal plates having a plurality of spiked projections therefrom for driving the plates into the wooden members and retaining the members in a joined relationship.
In recent years, metal trusses and metal open web structural supports have gained favor in the construction industry. Metal supports are typically comprised of a plurality of U-shaped channels and square tubular members with the members being joined by mechanical fasteners.
Many building designs include curved roofs that define an arcuately shaped roofline. The curved construction of these roofs and the trusses associated therewith make them particularly strong with respect to forces being applied to the outer surfaces of the roof. The upper chord member associated with these xe2x80x9ccurved trussesxe2x80x9d are typically provided in the form of a plurality of substantially straight segments that are connected to one another in an end-to-end fashion to approximate a smooth arcuate structure.
As a result of the upper chords being constructed of a plurality of straight segments, the truss ties extending between the trusses and providing lateral support must be customized with respect to thickness and placement along the tops of the top chords so as to provide a smooth arcuate surface for attaching the associated curved roof components to. The vertical height or thickness as well as the attachment points of the truss ties are typically determined by individually measuring the proper spacing along each individual segment of the segmented top chord, thereby insuring proper alignment. Such a process is time consuming and adds to the construction time and cost during the construction of the building.
There is a need for a truss assembly which is easy to install, reduces construction time, and allows for substantially random placing of the truss ties along the top surface of the associated trusses.
The roof support truss of the present invention includes a top chord with an arcuately curved upper surface, rather than a plurality of flat segment surfaces. The upper surface is flanked by a pair of downwardly depending, spaced leg members, which are corrugated to provide the upper surface with a generally smooth arcuate shape. In one aspect of the invention, this upper surface and depending leg members essentially comprise the top chord, while in another aspect of the invention, the upper surface and corrugated legs comprise an upper truss cap which sits over a conventional segmented chord. In addition, the same techniques can also be employed to provide a bottom chord with an arcuately curved lower surface.
The truss system of this invention provides effectively reduces the cost and time associated with the construction of roofs having an arcuately shaped roofline and/or arcuately shaped ceiling. These and other advantages of the invention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to the following written specification, claims and appended drawings.